good points wungu, I'm not trying to complicate things, sometimes its really difficult to get to everyone's drawings and sometimes we may not like the content but I see ratings as a positive push for some and the rating to me is for how well do we think the artist did...with younger artists they may not be as accomplished as some but their level of talent may be their best at the time so I try to rate them according to how well I think they did for their level so they might get a 4 or 5 even though they are not as successful yet as others but deserve it because they did well for their level..make sense??

I think in our own minds we can tell who is natural, who has what level of talent and we usually can see when some improve..I do try to allow room for improvement for the beginners, if I gave them all 5's then that leaves little room for improvement so it's just a little balancing act sometimes..mostly I just wanted to remind some of us to remember to give back, to remember how it felt the first time someone said well done to you. Many of you are very good at doing just that and I respect all of you. You wungu mentioned how full your favs folder is and your right, do you put them in there because you like the artist? because they have been kind to you? or because you truly love the drawing and want to learn from it...(not picking on you wungu, just using what you said as an example ok?)

It 's up to each person who saves what or who rates who etc...I just wish to remind others to remember how it felt and keep in mind that yes some are here for the wrong reason but that is their problem...many are here because they want to belong to something that gives them happiness to be able to share what they love to do with others. Keep it simple and follow your hearts, you will know who you impress to keep trying to improve by your support. The rest will tire easy and give up and hey...

Good suggestion ernie...maybe we can do that on our own.. like I said we can usually tell who really appreciates queeky and what they hear back from others... I think those who have the talent have so much to share with those who are learning even if its just a "good job"...they light up and are anxious to draw more...some are young and yes it might go to their heads at first but hey we have all been young right?!! in time they will come to appreciate art even more. To me that is more important than getting ratings..I love to get them as much as the next person but I love more to lift a young spirit up and guide them when they ask and are willing..hope this makes sense.. Don't shoot me ernie for filling up your page with all of this..You know we all love you and since everyone comes to see your drawings cause your so great at it this is the perfect place for this right? please say right LOL

I don't feel picked on marilens - for the simple reason that I comment, rate and fave with integrity (which is why I have the dilemma) ... I never do either just because someone was kind to me or even because I like them as a person - but because I deem their art worth the respect and the honour.

My dilemma is actually other people's reaction to it - time and again I see comments about anyone rating lower than 5 - it is very easy to do so accidentally if you watch as you hover around the rating stars they set off on their own - so people may not even have intended to rate , let alone rate low.

There are many times I would like to rate say 3 or 4 out of 5 to offer encouragement ... if I compare this to school reports - I used to get A1 for maths; A was top for achievement and 1 was top for effort - I should actually have been getting an A5 because I didn't have to make any effort whatsoever to achieve high marks ... if we always score top marks right from the word go what does that really mean? Maybe that is why we are struggling to encourage and appreciate a wide spectrum of ability because the ratings system has become meaningless?

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton

Please do what you are comfortable with, in the not so recent past we had some people or a person giving bad ratings just to be mean so for awhile when some of us saw low scores on great drawings we mostly wanted to remind the artist that we didn't agree or the attack would be towards a newbie so we wanted them to realize that the majority didn't feel that way, that someone was just being a jerk (we just didn't want the newbies to feel bad and leave...You have the right to rate how ever you feel and if we all know you we won't criticize you because we know your not one of those people who sneak in and rate low just to be ornery...

Sometimes we all get caught up in wondering what someone means by their actions, words don't always express the true emotion or intent meant. I went around with someone sometime back because of just this..I mentioned that I didn't know why someone gave the artist (well known and good artist) a low rate and someone snapped back at me that I shouldn't judge people etc...that was not what I was doing, I was just uplifting the artist but they took it as I was being negative..I didn't mention any names or direct it towards anyone person but they did me publicly not caring if they were offending me..funny how that works, anyway we worked it out in a positive way in the end. I feel that if someone rates something of mine low that is their prerogative, it won't affect how I rate them or how I feel about them..it helps if they explain why they rated it lower because that helps to know where improvement can be made so it can be a good thing but not necessary.

Personally I don't like a rating system, it reminds me of when in I was in junior high school, a certain teacher would make you sit in rows according to what grade you were getting, can you imagine how those who were getting F's and D's felt? Anyway...please don't feel any pressure, just have fun and do what you feel is right to you, apparently you care so that says a lot about you..If someone has a problem with how you rate then maybe they shouldn't submit a drawing...as far as the new people who come here and the young, I just feel it's important to help them feel comfortable. Remember...it was a jerk who started rating low just to be a jerk and there were a couple of them if I remember right so some of us came to the defense but that was then, don't let that affect you now ok? and then sometimes we say one thing one day and then wonder why we said it the next day... guess we all have those days sometimes.. Just have fun and rate away or comment away..what ever you do it will be fine.